The Enemies of Faith Part 3

The Enemies of Faith Part 3

By Apostle Felix

15  Don’t set the affections of your heart on this world or in loving the things of the world. The love of the Father and the love of the world are incompatible. 

16  For all that the world can offer us—the gratification of our flesh, the allurement of the things of the world, and the obsession with status and importance—none of these things come from the Father but from the world. 

17  This world and its desires are in the process of passing away, but those who love to do the will of God live forever.

1 John 2: 15 – 17

John, the apostle of Jesus admonished the church not to love the world, when Jesus on the other hand loved the world. The Bible appears to be contradicting itself. Every student of the Bible should be aware that the Bible was initially written in Hebrew and Greek. The Old Testament and  the New Testament were written Hebrew and Greek respectively. The first English translation of the Bible was completed 1382, which is known as the Wycliffe Bible. The translators had faced a challenge to translate some of the words from Hebrew or Greek into English. One of the words they had a challenge with is the word ‘world.’ In Greek, the word ‘world’ can have several means. The word, ‘world’ in John 3: 16, is referring to people, while the ‘world’ in 1 John 2: 15 is referring to the worldly system or the way of thinking. The world or the system of this world can be an enemy of faith. The world has its own mindset that is in opposition to the kingdom of God. The two, the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness are ever in conflict. They can never get to agree and live in harmony. It’s impossible. The first message Jesus preached had to do with the change of mindset in order to fit into the kingdom of God.

17  From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 

Matthew 4: 17

The enemy of faith can be the mindset of the world. Apostle Paul called it a carnal mind. It is a mind that opposes and resists the will of God, and Paul called it an enemy of God.

6  For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 

7  Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 

8  o then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

Romans 8: 6 – 8

It is a sham to attribute every faith failure to demonic interference. The most quoted scripture is where Jesus said that, ‘This one can only go by prayer and fasting.’

29  And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting. 

Mark 9: 29

In order to understand the above scripture is first to get to understand what led to disciples’ failure to cast out the devil. It was their faithlessness. Jesus, therefore, was addressing their faithlessness. Mind you, Jesus had already established that fasting was inappropriate for the disciples while He was with them.

18  And the disciples of John and of the Pharisees used to fast: and they come and say unto him, Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but thy disciples fast not? 

19  And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? as long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.

Mark 2: 18, 19

In Matthew 17: 20, Jesus explains that the disciples had no enough faith. Faith and prayer are entwined. Our prayers do not change God but they do change us. So therefore, when we pray and fast, faith in God develops more and unbelief gets overwhelmed. The disciples were challenged in the area of their faith in God. Since their faith was week, the disciples could not cast out the devil. Prayer and fasting should not be motivated by the reason of casting out demons. That’s a wrong a reason of praying and fasting. Pray and fast because you want to commune with the Lord and grow in faith. Prayer and fasting helps us to focus more on the Lord and His word for the renewal of minds. The worldly mindset that clogs our faith in God gets unclogged when we immerse ourselves in the word of God, married with prayer and fasting. Minds that are renewed and transformed are lives that are found at the centre of God’s will, where all things are possible.

2  Stop imitating the ideals and opinions of the culture around you, but be inwardly transformed by the Holy Spirit through a total reformation of how you think. This will empower you to discern God’s will as you live a beautiful life, satisfying and perfect in his eyes. 

Romans 12: 2